Steelers Hall of Famer Jack Butler dies at 85

FILE- Int is Aug. 4, 2012, file photo, former NFL football player Jack Butler poses with a bust of himself during an induction ceremony at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Butler died Saturday morning, may 11, 2013, following a lengthy battle with a staph infection, his son John Butler said. He was 85. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
— AP

FILE- Int is Aug. 4, 2012, file photo, former NFL football player Jack Butler poses with a bust of himself during an induction ceremony at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Butler died Saturday morning, may 11, 2013, following a lengthy battle with a staph infection, his son John Butler said. He was 85. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
/ AP

"It was just sticking out," Butler said. "I knew I was in a lot of trouble."

There was no such thing as arthroscopic knee surgery back then and given the severity of the injury, Butler's not sure he could have recovered if the injury happened today. He endured 10 surgeries and eventually had both of his knees replaced, procedures that limited his mobility later in life.

Still, he managed to make it to Canton, Ohio last summer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after being elected by the senior committee. It was an honor Butler had given up on long ago even as a campaign to get him into the Hall built steam. He was second in NFL history in career interceptions when he retired and still ranks 26th all-time, tied with Champ Bailey among others.

More than a dozen members of his family made the two-hour trip to Canton for the ceremony when the weight of Butler's accomplishments finally seemed to set in.

"If you'd asked him five years, 10 years ago, he'd have said it was no big deal," John Butler said Saturday. "But then when it happened, he was like, `this is a big deal.' When they told him 25,000 players or so had been in the league and you're No. 268, he was like, `Wow, that's pretty good.' He kind of really figured it out."

Butler didn't have a secret for his transformation from unknown to Hall of Famer. He knew he loved football. And he knew he could get away with the kind of contact today's defensive backs only dream about.

"You could bump'em and push'em and do things," Butler said. "You could grab onto his jersey so he doesn't get far from you. You could hold on a little bit. Now they're all over you. It's hard to do anything today."

There was no method exactly to Butler's success. He was smart, sure. And he could tell by a receiver's footwork where he was heading. Yet Butler says most of the credit should go to a work ethic and a little bit of naivety. He didn't know what he was doing when the Steelers signed him to a $4,000 contract in 1951.

"I must've been given some talents," he said. "Whatever talents I had, I worked like hell to improve what I had."